Windhoek
The Namibia Football Association (NFA) is to host another training camp this weekend at the NFA Technical Centre.
The gathering is aimed at trimming down the national Under-17 football team from its provisional 34-member squad to a manageable 20 ahead of preparations for the visit of Westphalia for the Four Nations Tourney slated for March 19-24 at Walvis Bay.
Successful trialists will also have a chance to carve themselves a place for the 2017 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations qualifiers to be hosted by Madagascar next year.
Coach Turipamue Upi says the trials held last week were successful, adding that the time is now ripe to work with the group of players ahead of the busy schedule.
“We started with a group of 35 players based in the Khomas Region and increased the group to 60 players while the additional group included players selected from the Skorpion Zinc Cup in Tsumeb last year. We managed to trim the squad down to 34 players who will report for camp this Friday before we finalise the final squad of 20 players,” Upi explains.
The 20 players to be selected will travel around the country to engage in exhibition matches against regional Under-17 teams, as the national selectors are still on the lookout to unearth more raw talent before the final squad is announced to represent the country at the upcoming Four Nations Tourney.
“The team looks better in terms of positional options but we still need to convert specific players into defensive midfielders since most of the boys only want to play attacking football. The attack looks very good and so are the wing players but we need to make the midfield stronger with some key defensive players in there,” Upi states.
The provisional 34-member squad reads as follows: Mbinaune Tjihuro, Megameno Kapuku, Junior Petrus, Mauricia Shimbili, Helmuth Namaseb, Alex Kaongelwa, Dawid Morgan, Adelino Kahali, Mbakondja Tjahikika, Joel Hepo, Philipus Josef, Edwin Gaeb, Thabo Mngyelana, Aljerau Zaaul, Mbakondja Kahuure, Ueyton Goliath, Tulela Shipanga, Godwin Eiseb, Vaino Uugwanga, Lorenzo Fredericks, Kingsley Kwenani, Ian Lebereki, Danzyl Narib, Romario Kambindu, Kerii Tjipepa, Lubani Haukongo, Kevin Katjondorozu, Lionel Routh, Moses Mbetjiha, Feliuono Cobeyo, Malcom Pack, Stanley Ndjavera, Dorian Iyambo and Tim Gerhard.